Last Night...Talking Cornrows with James Franco

At last night's Gucci and GQ cocktail party, we spotted some pretty sharp suits from the Italian brand's tailoring line, as well as some old-school artisans burnishing horse-bit loafers on the spot. Also spotted was the face of Gucci's Made to Measure ad campaign and jack-of-all-trades James Franco, who looked pretty sharp himself in one of the brand's peak lapel "Marseille" suits. We chatted him up about his brother's big GQ moment, his go-to cardigan, and of course, this look.

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GQ Eye: We're at a Gucci event, you've been the face of the brand, and you obviously wear a lot of Gucci on and off the red carpet. Do you have a favorite look or piece you've worn over the years?
James Franco: I'm a big cardigan sweater guy.

GQ Eye: We've seen you rock a particular navy one a few times, even boldly over a suit.
James Franco: I love that one. Although I'm wearing a lighter blue one in this new movie directed by Seth Rogen. We all play ourselves, so I'm of course wearing Gucci. I'm wearing a sweater I've worn before, but it's a thicker and light blue.

GQ Eye: Did you see your brother's GQ cover?
James Franco: I did, yeah!

GQ Eye: What did you think?
James Franco: I thought it was great. I was surprised and very impressed.

GQ Eye: Surprised because you didn't think he deserved it?
James Franco: No, I didn't know he was going to be on the cover! My assistant brought it to me one day and I was like, "my God."

GQ Eye: Did you read about the poem he wrote about your grandmother?
James Franco: No.

GQ Eye: [After showing him the poem] So we're wondering, do you have a poem you've written about your grandmother too?
James Franco:[Laughs] I don't have a poem for my grandmother. Although my movie about Hart Crane just came out this weekend in New York at IFC and one of his best poems is called My Grandmother's Love Letters, and I did recite that in the film. It's funny there are similar sentiments in Hart Crane's poem to this one.

GQ Eye: Moving on to Spring Breakers. We have to know, how long did it take to get your cornrows done, and who did them?
James Franco: We had a local artist down in St. Petersburg, Florida do it. I think it took about five hours total, only because we had to try different cornrow configurations. It doesn't hurt that much, but it does get very itchy because you can't get them wet.

GQ Eye: How long did you have to have them for?
James Franco: Only two weeks.

GQ Eye: With regards to your character in the movie, the rapper Riff Raff has said the role you are playing was originally meant for him. Is that true?
James Franco: None of that's true. I'll tell you why he could have never been offered the role. Harmony (Korine, the movie's writer and director) and I were talking about doing a movie together before Spring Breakers was even conceived. I had been a fan of his work and he wanted to do something and I said, "I'll do anything with you." We started discussing ideas and one day he sent me a treatment, which he said he's never done before, just to run it by me. And it was this idea of these girls going on spring break and then they meet up with this guy who leads them into the dark side. And then he wrote the script. So there's no chance Riff Raff could have been offered the role. Of course Harmony and I looked at some of Riff Raff's videos as inspiration, but he was one of a number of people we looked at. I would say the biggest influence on the role was this local Florida rapper named Dangerous. He's fairly unknown, but he was down there in the place, living the life, and he became the biggest model for me and he's in the movie.

GQ Eye: So Riff Raff never sent you some of his clothes to wear like he said?
James Franco: No, never. But if he still wants to send me clothes, he can.